Reducing health inequalities in Finland: progressing or regressing?

Abstract

The health of the population in Finland improved dramatically during the 20th century, but differences between socioeconomic groups prevail and have even widened during the past decades. Reducing health inequalities has been the goal for health policy since the 1970s. One instrument for addressing the problem has been public health programmes. However, they have not proven to be very powerful in reducing inequalities. This is connected with the nature of socio-economic health differences, which are generated in a wider societal context and are linked to social and economic inequalities. By the turn of the 1990s, Finland was one of the most egalitarian countries but after the economic depression of the 1990s the basis of the welfare state was weakened. Improving the conditions and health-related habits of the more disadvantaged groups has been articulated in the programmes of the present government and a major healthcare reform is underway, but it seems that the root causes of inequalities do not receive the attention needed to reduce health inequalities.

Keywords

• Health inequalities, public health, health policy, welfare state